Kanungu Residents Stranded as Hospitals Reject Fake Insurance Cards Issued By Parliamentary Candidate John Ndugutse

Kihihi Town Council -Kanungu

What began as a golden promise of free healthcare for hundreds of residents in Kinkizi West has turned into a cruel betrayal, after it emerged that former parliamentary aspirant, Rtd AIGP John Ngaruye Ndungutse, duped voters with counterfeit health insurance cards in a desperate bid to secure votes in the recently concluded NRM primaries.

Two months after the elections, angry residents who presented the so-called “insurance cards” at health facilities in Kihihi Town Council and even in Kampala were turned away in humiliation. The cards—distributed by Ndungutse during campaigns—have been confirmed as worthless pieces of paper printed at Nasser Road, sources revealed.

Jane Nyanjura of Ndeeba in Kihihi Town Council and Muhendo of Nyamwegabira also in Kihihi Town Council were among the victims who walked to clinics expecting free medical care, only to be thrown out.

“They told me they don’t know the cards. I was chased away. Ndungutse told us that whenever we got sick, we would receive free treatment. When I called him, he didn’t pick up my phone. I am disappointed,” recounted another elderly victim who had even travelled to Kampala, only to be mocked for presenting the fake document.

The socalled health insurance card that turned out to be a scam

The scam has left many, including mothers, elders, and children, stranded and disillusioned. For the poor and vulnerable, Ndungutse’s promises were not just empty—they were a deliberate con game played on their desperation.

But health insurance was not his only deception. Ndungutse shamelessly paraded yet another false promise: the so-called Ndungutse Education Fund, through which he pledged to offer free bursaries to needy students across Kanungu. Yet at nearly 70 years of age, Ndungutse has never paid fees for even a single child in his own community. Residents are now openly wondering where a man with such a record of zero generosity intends to get the money to bankroll thousands of bursaries. Many see it as yet another con trick, packaged to harvest votes from desperate parents.

“This man is a conman,” one youth leader in Kihihi remarked. “If at his age he has never sponsored even one child, how can he suddenly claim to have an education fund? It’s all lies, just like those fake insurance cards.”

This was not an isolated pattern. Ndungutse had spent his campaign weaving a web of deception, parading himself as a “state-sponsored candidate” and claiming to have the President’s backing. After trailing embarrassingly in third place against incumbent James Kaberuka who won the elections, he still staged a bizarre celebration, slaughtering a cow and boasting that President Museveni had promised him the party flag. He even went around the constituency arrogantly declaring himself the rightful NRM flag bearer—until the tribunal firmly quashed his fantasies and reaffirmed Kaberuka.

Now, even Ndungutse’s closest coordinators are recoiling in shame, openly questioning his integrity.

“How can a senior police officer issue fake insurance cards? How can he lie about bursaries he has no capacity to deliver? How can we trust him with such a character?” asked one of his former loyalists.

Ndungutse’s political gamble has backfired spectacularly. What was meant to be a masterstroke—dangling free healthcare and fake bursaries before vulnerable communities—has instead exposed him as a fraud, a liar, and an opportunist willing to trample on the poor for political gain.

Kinkizi West residents are now left with nothing but useless cards, broken promises, phantom bursaries, and the painful realization that Ndungutse’s campaign was built on lies. In Kanungu today, the once-respected retired police boss stands exposed—not as a leader, but as a fraudster whose credibility lies in tatters.